Bear Heart (Book 2)

Chapter 11

This chapter contains potential triggers for some people, since it does contain mild and brief descriptions of sexual harassment. I have marked the section of the potential trigger with astrids, so feel free to skip ahead a few paragraphs. Thank you.

11. A Touch of Fear

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“Eric, what are you doing?!” I started trying to push him off of me. He put one of his hands over my mouth, the other still tightly gripped at my wrist. “Shh, it’s okay, we’re alone,” he whispered in my ear. His breath reeked of alcohol. Someone must have brought beer to the party.

I used my free hand to pry his hand off of my mouth. “Stop it, you’re drunk,” I told him. He began to chuckle. “So what? You know you’re enjoying this. If you make a fuss, you’ll pay for it.” Suddenly, he presses his mouth to mine, his hands feeling my breasts and my legs. I grew frantic. I began to push, to try and kick, even to try and scream, but his mouth muffled my voice, and his body was too restricting of my movements. I was absolutely terrified. I wasn’t strong enough to get him off of me.

***

“Hey! Get off of her!” Eric brought his mouth away from mine, looking up to the one who interrupted him. It was Kenai, and he was furious. I took the opportunity to push Eric off of me, and I ran towards Kenai. My fear had turned into disgust and anger. The look on Kenai’s face made it safe to say that he was almost as infuriated as I was.

“What the hell do you think you were doing?” He asked through his teeth. Eric began walking towards us. “I was trying to have some fucking fun with my girlfriend!” He yelled. “I’m not your girlfriend, you fucking idiot!” I yelled back. “Yes you are, damn it! And this damn punk interrupted us!” Eric raised his fist and tried to swing at Kenai, but Kenai had punched him before his fist could reach him. Eric stumbled back, catching himself on a chair. “I’ll kill you!” He rushed at Kenai. The two began to throw punches. Kenai got hit a few times, but when Eric nearly stumbled, he tackled him to the floor and began to repeatedly hit his face.

“Kenai, stop!” I rushed over and grabbed his arm, trying to pull him off of Eric, who had stopped moving and could only groan. “I’ll make sure he pays, Clair. Trust me.” Kenai was breathing heavy, his voice an angry whisper. “It’s fine, I’m fine. You gave him a good beating. Please, let’s just go.” Kenai wouldn’t look at me. “I’ll take you home.”

Kate came outside, Sonia and Alex following, as well as a couple of others.  “What happened?!” Kate gasped, her hand flying to her mouth in surprise. “Just a little disagreement. I’m sorry I ruined your party,” Kenai told her. “Someone either spiked the punch or brought their own booze, so don’t drink any of that stuff. I’m taking Clair home.” Sonia rushed over to me, Alex right behind her. “Clair, are you okay?” Sonia whispered, holding my hands in hers. “You don’t look so good,” Alex told me, rubbing my back. I shook my head. “I’m fine,” I told them. I could feel hot tears beginning to well in my eyes.

“Clair, whatever happened, I’m so sorry,” Kate told me, pulling me into a hug. I shook my head, hugging her back. “No, don’t apologize, I’m sorry that we had to ruin the fun.” Kate shook her head this time. “No, don’t say that, you didn’t do a thing. Are you sure you want to go home? We were going to play some party games right now, if you feel well enough to stick around? After all, the party’s only getting started.”

“No, I’m sorry, I just really want to go home.” Kate nodded, giving me a tight hug. “Feel better.” Kenai grabbed my hand tightly and started to pull me back towards the house, when Kate called him. “Um, Kenai? You’ll call me, right?” He looked back, his face still stern. “Yeah, I will.” Without another word, he pulled me along and out onto the street until he found his red motorcycle.